WANDILE SIHLOBO: How South Africa boosts Zimbabwe farmers

It is an inconvenient truth that our embattled northern neighbour Zimbabwe remains critical to South Africa’s agricultural sector, despite the country’s governance problems. 

This was a point echoed again last week, when the South African government hosted a bilateral business forum between the two countries, focusing on trade, industrialisation and regional value chains.

The fortunes of the two countries have been enmeshed for decades — even though South Africa’s economy has become relatively far more formidable since democracy in 1994, while Zimbabwe’s has spluttered since the farm seizures of 2000 resulted in a collapse in investment. 

Yet, while you may not know it, Zimbabwe is the second-most important market for South Africa’s agricultural produce, behind only the Netherlands. And given that the Netherlands is the entry point to the wider EU, it seems likely that Zimbabwe is the single largest export market for local agriculture.

To flesh that out, South Africa exported agricultural products to Zimbabwe worth $1.2bn last year — 8% of all our agricultural exports, and equal to what the country exports to the Middle East or to our Brics partners. 

Yet there is a big distinction between what we sell to Europe and what finds its way onto the shelves in Harare or Bulawayo. While Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere buy heaps of fruit, wine, nuts, meat and grain, our exports across Beit Bridge are typically more processed.

So, alongside the maize, wheat and soybeans we export to Zimbabwe, you’ll also see a lot of bottled water, soybean oil, sauces, seasoning and spices, animal feed, preserved vegetables and fruit juices.

It is a revealing insight into the state of industrialisation in Zimbabwe that these products are first processed in South Africa before being shipped north.

For many, the interdependence will be surprising. But this is also what shaped the discussions last week of how to boost “shared prosperity” in the region, by stepping up South Africa’s imports from Zimbabwe and boosting regional supply chains. 

But for that to happen, Zimbabwe’s government will have to take the first step towards domestic reforms and legislative improvements to reassure investors. Only then will President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s country be able to convincingly build a positive narrative. 

Zimbabwe’s problems are well known. It has one of the frailest currencies in the world, investors are frequently obliged to cede 75% of their companies to Zimbabweans, and the political repression of opposition parties ensures the risk premium remains high.